Leaving Creative - need help

r00k

r00k

2[H]4U
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Aug 24, 2004
Messages
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I have been trying to fill the limits of my motherboard's expandability. I have 2 PCI, 1 PCI-e x16, and 1 PCI-e x1. Due to my main video card taking up two slots, when i decided i wanted to go quad monitor, i had to remove my Audigy 2 Value. Considering that i don't game very often any more, onboard has served me decently, although the rear channel does not work (i think its hardware). The audigy 2 served me well, but I am absolutely tired of creative, and am looking to support a competitor. I am moving to a single slot graphics card soon (one way or another) and will have the room. I used to love my soundstorm, and would like to move back to an audio card capable of recoding audio streams on the fly to dolby.

Which is where this thread begins its relevance. I have been looking at the top card listed here, and i note that there are other cards also capable. Which of these would provide the best enjoyment, best quality sound, bang for buck, etc.? Are these cards still pretty good to game on, particularly in their surround quality versus my a2 value?

The choice is between these three at this point, or your "other" suggestion. And no, i will not consider a new creative labs card. Thanks.

AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 DDL DTSC

Turtle Beach Montego 7.1 DDL

bluegears b-Enspirer
 
Check out the diamond extreme 7.1

It's the same as the TB montego, just cheaper.
 
The b-Enspirer uses a newer sound chip than the other two, it uses the same C-Media Oxygen HD sound chip as these cards:

Auzentech X-Meridian
Sondigo Inferno
Razer Barracuda 7.1

All these cards have almost the same features but their analogue specs are different to each other. If you are using digital output, I think they all have same performance. You should check the manufacturer's website to know more about the cards and see which company offer a better support.
 
I bought an X-Plosion card from Auzentech for a few reasons.....

1. Creative has a monopoly, and EAX is just a proprietary audio technology that is over-hyped, over-exagerated, and for many people a pain in the butt to get working sometimes.
2. I paid $95 for a sound card that has connections, and capabilities that Creative doesn't offer for atleast another $100 or so.
3. OpenAL is a lot more popular then people think, and while it is still owned by Creative...it is free to develop with, and OpenAL is just the technology that will "free" other sound card makers from having to try and "emulate" EAX 5.0, so they may pursue creating high quality cards that support 6.1 / 7.1 positional audio.
4. Creative tries to be Nvidia...releasing new sound card's when we don't need them. 98% of users with the Audigy 2 ZS are fine where they are at.....the X-FI is just a marketing scheme with a few improvements.

Creative needs to wake up and realize that they do offer a great product, but they are not the only product that does top notch audio for PC's.
 
I get the feeling that, if / when i do this, i am simply going to have to pick one, and take the plunge. Every review i read seems very subjective, and different. At this time, its probably between the auzentech xplosion and the bluegears b-enspirer. the xplosion appears to be of better physical quality, but i question why they so readily offer up that the op amps could need upgrades (and what this might actually do for me), the bluegears has spdif in (which may prove mroe useful) and has less mentions of driver instability.

Given the two, anyone have solid reasons for opinions?
 
r00k,

The X-Plosion has upgradeable OPAMPs because the company wants to cut the cost of the card down. Most people are only using the X-Plosion for its digital output so high quality OPAMPs will just be a waste of money because the OPAMPs will only improve the sound if you are using the analogue outputs. The X-Plosion and X-Mystique have their market because their digital outputs support Dolby Digital encoding(DTS encoding is also supported on the X-Plosion). Now many new companies try to enter this market by selling sound cards based on the newer C-Media Oxygen HD chip which also supports Dolby Digital/DTS encoding through the digital output. The Oxygen HD is a newer and a better chip than the chip on the X-Mystique/X-Plosion. All sound cards with the new Oxygen HD chip have a SPDIF input.

Right now Auzentech has just came out with their new X-Meridian which is also based on the newer Oxygen HD chip. To keep their card as the first choice against other new companies, Auzentech has taken a new approach by making the analogue output on the X-Meridian one the best analogue output you can get for a consumer level PC sound card.

It really depends on how you will use the sound card, if you're using it only for digital connection then you can get any of the Oxygen HD based card because in digital, I think all of them are equal and they should better than the older X-Mystique/X-Plosion. I have the X-Plosion card and I just got my X-Meridian today, I will compare those two in digital and post the result on my thread. If you're using analogue, get the X-Meridian if you are willing to spend a huge amount of money on it. I really can't tell which other card also has a better analogue output because most of them are only build for the digital connection. Maybe the old X-Plosion/X-Mystique with upgraded OPAMPs can give a better sound.
 
alg7_munif - great informative post about what's what....


Although a large crowd of people who use these Auzentech card's for the SPDIF output will most likely have receivers that could have SPDIF input's on their receivers, but you would go back to analog with 1/8th" inch mini-jack on the 8770 card's.

alg7_munif, in your opinion what reasons would users find for SPDIF input on lower cost audio cards? To compete with X-FI Platinum's for low-cost audio input for musicians?

URL to C-Media's website
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/pci_audio

I am not a pro in audio recording but wouldn't this Korg card be one of many choices for users looking for SPDIF input?
http://www.korg.com/oasyspci_specs.htm


In the end, for people not recording....the Xplosion / Mystique would work for us all if we did not want to support Creative?
 
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